Travel Guide Liège

Liege is not the most beautiful city in Belgium, but its few interesting museums, its architectural heritage and its sense of celebration make it a must-see stopover in Belgium. With its 200,000 inhabitants, Liege is the second largest city in Wallonia (after Charleroi). The agglomeration has 700,000 inhabitants, making it one of the leading economic, cultural and university centers in Wallonia.The city is called the "Cité ardente", in reference to its steel industry but also to the ebullient character of its inhabitants. Liège was for a long time a large industrial city, but from the 1960s onwards, it suffered a long decline as the factories became dilapidated. In the 1960s and 1970s, the urban landscape was ransacked, pierced by expressways and bristling with ugly buildings. You can't escape it, especially when you arrive from the south of the city. However, the center of Liege, with the river that crosses it, the small squares, the old houses with beautiful facades, retains a lot of charm and the city is experiencing a renaissance through the renovation of certain districts and the organization of cultural events. The city is also undergoing work, since the pharaonic construction site of the streetcar has literally turned the city upside down. The work will last until 2025.The people of Liège cultivate an art of living where spontaneous hospitality is not a hollow phrase. Eight centuries of history within an independent principality of the Germanic Empire have contributed to forge the spirit of Liège: proud and tenacious, willingly mocking and rebellious, warm and welcoming. Tchantchès, the city's mascot puppet, sums up these character traits. Finally, Liège has earned a reputation for being a French-speaking city that is rarely denied, and this is particularly evident on July 14.